Did you know that there is a shark with pockets? Not quite as large as on a seahorse or kangaroo, the Pocket shark (Mollisquama) has got two pockets above its pectoral fins, its size about 4 percent of the shark’s body.

Pocket shark (Credit M. Doosey/Tulane university)

With its big head and overbite, the Pocket shark looks nearly cute.

Pocket sharks are a small (up to 15 inches -40 cm- or more long) species of kitefin sharks (Dalatiidae), live in the deep sea and are ovoviviparous (that means the embryos develop inside eggs, but remain in the mother’s body, hatch and are born after). They have bioluminescent organs. The pockets aren’t designed for carrying children, but are glands and it is speculated that they may secrete some kind of glowing fluid or pheromones.

Solely two specimen of pocket sharks have been found yet (in 1979 and 2010), but they differ significantly (for instance in vertebral counts) and seems to belong to two sister species.